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Don Gronning
REARDAN - After surviving three loser-out games, the Selkirk boys’ basketball team finally dropped one, ending their season with a 62-53 loss to Touchet Feb. 20 at Reardan. The game was for a state tournament berth.
“We had a slow start but then settled in and really competed the rest of the way,” Selkirk coach Brodie Larson said of the Touchet game.
Behind 17-4 at the end of the first quarter, the Rangers came back with a big 21-9 second quarter, to trail 28-25 at halftime. Touchet managed to stretch their lead in each of the next two quarters to get the win.
Larson was happy with the team’s efforts, but Touchet had the better night.
“Touchet made some big plays down the stretch, but I was proud of how our guys kept battling,” he said. “We hit some big shots, competed on the glass, and defended well enough to give ourselves a chance.”
Keaton Arrastio led Ranger scoring with 20 points. Kipton Corkhill and Caden Pichettt scored 11 points each. Arrastio led in rebounding with 14. Paxon Larson and Zach Van Meer pulled down four boards.
Larson said the team played well together all season. The Rangers finished with a 10-13, 4-8 record.
“Overall, this was a special group that played extremely hard, played together, and played with a lot of heart,” he said. “They represented the school and community well.”
“The progress over the past few years has been significant, and that’s a credit to our seniors,” Larson said. “We’re going to miss Keaton, Blake (Reed), and Caden — they’ve had a huge role in elevating Selkirk basketball over the last few years.”
Larson said community support meant a lot the players.
“The community support throughout the postseason was outstanding,” he said.
Larson said the playoff experience will help next year.
“As for next year, we return some valuable experience and will look to build on what this group established,” he said. “The expectation doesn’t change — we want to compete at a high level and put ourselves in position to play meaningful games in February.”
